Friendly Fred

Hi, I'm FriendlyFred and running this blog. I play 'em all from soprano to baritone, acoustic and electric. Yes, big hands can handle small instruments. Enjoy strumming around and have a good day !

” Iris ” By The Goo Goo Dolls – Ukulele Playalong With Chords And Lyrics

So here comes a song from the late 90's. The Goo Goo Dolls are a rock band, founded in Buffalo in 1986. They were quite popular in the USA, but international superstardom came in 1998 with " Iris ". John Rzeznik, the frontman of the band, wrote this song for the " City of Angels " soundtrack. It was a top-ten hit and included on the triple-platinum album " Dizzy Up the Girl ".
 
  Ukulele Chords And Lyrics On 2 Sheets ( PDF )   You can watch the video in HD if you click on the bottom right on " settings " and " 720p ". This song is quite tricky. There're rhythmic changes and some unusual chords for a rock ballad. So I would suggest it for intermediate and experienced players.  

1. Rhythm

In the intro the meter changes between 3/4 and 2/4 beat. The rest of the song is written in a 3/4 beat.  

2. Strumming

In the beginning I played an alternating down - up strumming. For the rest of the song the strumming is like the original:  
D   D U D U
1 + 2 + 3 +
  For a lot of players it's easier to play this strumming intuitively than to count the beats.  

3. Chords

We tried to come close to the original. On " Iris " Mr. Rzeznik plays an unusual open tuning on his guitar ( B D D D D D ). Here're some notes to our video:

Bm

Bm is played in the intro  4 6 7 2  and in the rest  4 1 1 1 . The second one is easier if you make a barre over all strings ( with the 4th string included).  

Dm

alternative fingerings are:
  • thumb on the 4th string ( T 1 2 0 ) [ I play it this way in the video ]
  • small barre on the 3th and 4th string with your forefinger ( 1 1 2 0 )

F#

An alternative fingering is with a barre in the first fret ( 3 1  2 1 ). As I said with the Bm chord, it's easier if you make a barre over all strings ( with the 4th string included).   This song is not easy to play ( esp. when you sing too ), but it's woth learning it. Here's a version with the lovely Avril Lavigne:
And here's another chart breaker, together with Elmo:
  So we hope you like our playalong.

Feel free to leave a comment below and rock on.

  FriendlyFred      

4 Comments

  1. Ronaldo

    Great tutorial, thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Friendly Fred

      Thank you Ronaldo.

      Reply
  2. Ana

    I have a question about the tabs, what’s the meaning of the circle outside of the neck, something like this. ○
    Sometimes there’re two or three in different places.

    Reply
    • Friendly Fred

      This means an open string. So e.g. if you play the G major chord, you play the first string without gripping a fret.

      Reply

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